The Secret is in the Roll of the Tongue
by Heath07
Summary: Summer needs someone to tutor her... Seth just happens to be available. SethSummer with minor appearances by Ryan and Marissa.


  
  


Title: The Secret is in the Roll of the Tongue  
  


Rating: PG-13 warning: extreme sap ahead. Brace yourselves, you may get a cavity.  
  


Summary: Summer needs someone to tutor her. Seth just happens to be available. Seth/Summer with minor appearances by Ryan and Marissa.  
  


Disclaimer: I don't own anything nor do I claim to, so please don't sue. :)  
  


Feedback: Please. I would really appreciate it. Once again, thank you to those that always reply or have ever replied. Your comments always brighten my day.  
  


Notes: This is exactly the reason I don't write longer fics. (I'm sorry, I really tried hazehoound.) lol I become obsessed with them and have to work on them incessantly until they're done and they take so much longer than I'm used to. I commend all those people that can write multi-chapter fics. I always like to stick in a movie reference whenever I can, see if you can catch them ;-) I lost my notebook that I usually write in on the bus on my way to school (university), so I'm feeling a little depressed about that. :-(  
  


The Secret is in the Roll of the Tongue

__________________________________________  
  
  
  


Highschool was like a glimpse into the future. Everyone knows the jocks and cheerleaders are going to spend the rest of their lives looking back on their highschool days with yearning. They can never truly capture what they had back then, because they were the envy of the school, they had celebrity status. Everyone wanted to be them. And if they were lucky enough to graduate they usually landed some low-paying factory work or check-out girl at the local supermarket. The brains would move on to bigger and better things where they could afford all the nice things they'd dreamed of, including expensive women. The outcasts would find their niche and the rockers would find fame, whether that meant a sold-out stadium or performing at the local pub. 

At least that's what most highschool's were like.   
  


Nothing in Newport was that simple. Sure, cliques still existed and kids were still teased, but everyone was rich. Everyone had some form of disposable income to be used in whatever means they wanted and so who cared about education? Money talks. Bottom line.  
  


Summer certainly didn't care about going to class and the future seemed so far away she didn't have time in her busy social calendar to think about it.

_______ 

Summer, staring into her compact and readjusting her frosted-plum lip gloss, kept up the appearance of listening as her teacher's voice droned on and on about responsibility and initiative.   
  


"Summer, you really need to get these grades up." Mrs. Taylor, the resident guidance counsellor and worst dresser on staff, continued,"you can't just keep slipping by." She was fully aware of Summer's potential and didn't want to sit back and watch her squander it another year, especially not the year it counted the most.  
  


Summer, however, was two minutes away from explaining accessories and the merits of make-up to the fashion victim in front of her.  
  


Summer snapped her gum and rolled her eyes. "But Mrs. Taylor-"  
  


"Don't Mrs. Taylor me, I don't want to hear any more excuses," she said, pushing her glasses back up the bridge of her nose. "Now, I'm going to give you the option of finding your own tutor or I'll assign one to you."  
  


"A tutor? Ew!" Summer crossed her arms under her breasts and pouted defiantly.  
  


Mrs. Taylor drummed a pencil onto a stack of post-it notes. "I'm waiting."  
  


She scowled. "I bet you have one of those hall-monitor-goody-two-shoes-Bill-Gates-wannabe-freaks just waiting."  
  


"Miss Roberts, that's not appropriate," the counsellor admonished.   
  


Summer uncrossed her legs, stood and smoothed out her skirt. "Fine, I'll find my own tutor. Oh and by the way, a little lip-gloss goes a long way," she said and then exited the office.  
  


The school was still unsettled from the fall semester starting up again. Everything was in chaos and the halls proved loud and congested when she'd strolled through them earlier, before she'd been summoned. She couldn't imagine that they had cleared much in the ten minutes she'd been sitting content while some holier-than-thou teacher lectured her. Slinging her book-bag over her shoulder and dropping her mirror into the front compartment, Summer got ready to face the day.  
  


Two steps out of the guidance offices and she already found herself in trouble when her heel caught on a piece of frayed carpeting. Two large, solid hands steadied her. She looked up and met huge, warm brown eyes then she glanced back down at those hands that were fixed to her waist in shock.  
  


"Hi, Summer. Seth Cohen." His smile was full of dimples and charm. He dropped his hands from her sides and took a step back. "Sorry about that."  
  


She feigned annoyance. "I know your name. Do you have to do that every time we run into each other?"  
  


"Just makin' sure you don't forget." Again that slow, flirt smile. Where had that come from?  
  


"Whatev. Ew, did I say you could talk to me?" She brushed him off and made a move to pass him, but he put a restraining hand on her forearm and stopped her progress.  
  


"Okay, that stung a little more than I expected, but I forgive you."  
  


Summer stood motionless, her eyes humourless.  
  


"Okay then...first thing in the morning, you're still tired. I get that. I have no problem initiating a little one on none conversation," he teased, then cleared his throat when she didn't even flinch. "So listen, I couldn't help overhearing-"  
  


"Eavesdropping, you mean?" She said, her voice full of sarcasm.  
  


"Call it what you like."  
  


Her stance was stern. She eyed the hallway around them, making sure no one could see her actually conversing with Seth Cohen. "Get to the point, Cohen."  
  


"I'm getting there." Seth caught her scanning the halls and cringed. "So I was thinking...I could help you out. I'm pretty good at everything...I mean, my grades are good. You need help with English? You're in luck, because I just so happen to speak it. And math? I'm, like, the human calculator."

Readjusting the bag on her shoulder, she looked past him. "I don't need your help."  
  


Seth looked over his shoulder, in the direction of the guidance offices. "But I just heard-"  
  


"Why do you care? I'll get by on my own." She tried to step around him again, but he blocked her way. "Move. I'm going to be late for class."  
  


Seth touched her again, high on her arm just at the cusp where her shirt sleeve ended and her skin began. It was a strange feeling, one she couldn't place. "If you fail, you'll have to take it over next year. You won't graduate, Summer."   
  


Summer took a deep breath. "Fine."  
  


His smile was broad and he seemed to grow a few inches in height. "Fine as in 'yeah, okay, leave me alone now' or fine as in, 'I want your help, but don't expect me to be nice about it'?"  
  


Summer took a step closer, grabbed the front of his shirt and tugged on it hard. "Fine as in 'if you don't shut up, you're going to find my foot lodged in a very uncomfortable place in your body.'"  
  


"Uh..."  
  


She let go of his shirt and stepped back. "Sorry, another rage blackout," she said, as casual as she could muster.  
  


"Is there, like, a twelve-step program for those?" He smoothed out the wrinkles in his shirt and pulled it down so it hung over his baggy jeans.   
  


"Don't tempt me, Cohen."  
  


He held up his hands. "Yeah...no, I'm just saying... So...After school?"  
  


"No. Tonight. I don't feel like explaining you. No one will be home."  
  


"Okay. Around 8?"  
  


"Sure," she said, a little reluctance in her tone. He let her pass and she set out for her class while he went in the other direction.  
  


"Can't wait. Hasta luego." He waved. "See, I know Spanish too. I'm telling you, you won't regret this."  
  


"I think I already do," she called back.  
  


He stopped, turned. "A sense of humour. I like that."  
  


"Who's kidding?" she mumbled, and hurried on her way.  
  


_____  
  


Walking into history class, Seth was happy to find Ryan already at the back, seated by the windows. Seth walked over to him and slammed his books down on his desk with vigour. He took his seat beside Ryan and grinned.  
  


"Hey man," greeted Ryan.  
  


"Hello, my good man," Seth returned, giving him a slap on the back. "So listen, I can't do that thing tonight....go ahead, ask me why?"  
  


Ryan shrugged. "Okay, why?"  
  


"Because _I_ am going over to Summer's house to help her study. What do you think about that my friend?" There was s twinkle in his eye and an air of confidence on his brow.  
  


Ryan smirked. "That's really great, man."  
  


"I know, I almost can't believe it." He grew serious, wiping the humour from his face and settling back into his chair. "So... what about you, how are things going with Marissa?"  
  


Ryan blushed, slouching into his seat. "Okay...I guess. She's still pretty guarded. It's tough coming back here, having to face Luke...I'm not sure she's ready for all of this."  
  


"Marissa's strong, she'll be okay."  
  


"That's what I keep telling myself, but it's like every time I see Luke or Holly, it all comes back. I can just see her laying in that alley unconscious. It has to be hard for her, you know?" He was torn-up and the concern was clear in his voice.  
  


Seth opened his notebook and pulled out a pen. "Trust me, you're not the only one that wants to kick Luke's ass...of course, you're probably, you know, capable of kicking it, while I...well, let's just say I'd have a harder time, but that doesn't mean I don't want to. One thing I know about Marissa, is that she cares what people think of her, but she doesn't care so much that she'd totally freak out. She's braver than we give her credit for."   
  


"Yeah." Ryan nodded in understanding.  
  


The boys were effectively hushed and spent the rest of the period copying down notes about the Civil War. In the back of Seth's mind anticipation was swirling around like a Farris wheel.   
  


_______

Summer got into class late and paid no heed to the warnings the teacher gave her, she simply took a seat beside Marissa and let her head fall onto the desk.  
  


Marissa looked at her, concerned. "You okay?" she asked when the teacher turned his back to the class.  
  


"No," Summer mumbled and picked herself up. "This is the worst day ever!"  
  


Her curiosity piqued, Marissa leaned in closer. "What did Mrs. Taylor say?"  
  


"Coop," Summer whined.  
  


Marissa put a hand on her back to soothe her. "What? What is it?"  
  


Lines of horror etched her young, flawless skin. "She's making me get a tutor."  
  


Marissa eyed her. "Are your grades really that bad?"  
  


Summer rested her head in her palm, it felt too heavy to hold up on its own. "I don't know, I guess."  
  


"It won't be that bad. You're smart Sum, you can do it." Marissa offered her a pleasant smile. She was good at this friend thing, she just wasn't feeling very helpful today. Her own life was in ruins and Summer had really been there for her the past couple of weeks, she just wanted to be able to do the same, though with critical eyes all around them, she couldn't help but feel that she came up lacking.  
  


"I know, you're right, but I still have to work with some geek until I can get my GPA up."  
  


"It won't be that bad," Marissa assured her, "it'll be over before you know it."  
  


The positive spin was reassuring. "Yeah. I swear though, if Cohen tries any funny stuff I'm going to smack him."  
  


"Wait Cohen, as in Seth Cohen? He's your tutor?" Marissa kept her eyes on her friends face, waiting for any signs of false sincerity. Any trace of deception. Then, she saw _the_ look. The one that told her Summer Roberts wasn't quite as depressed about the situation as she led her to believe. It was just a flicker in her eyes, but Marissa read it clear.   
  


Summer sighed. "I know, could it get any worse?"  
  


Marissa smiled, playing along. "Actually, that doesn't sound so bad, Seth's a really nice guy and he cares about you," she pointed out.  
  


"Right. Just like every other guy cares about me." Summer bit her lip and twirled her hair.  
  


"Seth's not like that," Marissa assured her. "He's-"  
  


"Ladies, would you like to talk to the principal about this chatter or can I continue the lesson in peace?" The teacher, an older gentleman in his late fifties with salt-and-pepper hair and a thin moustache gave them each a pointed look.   
  


"Sorry," Marissa offered.   
  


Summer just shook her head and stopped talking. She had a lot to think about.  
  


_____________  
  


Seth arrived at exactly 7: 57 pm, books in hand. He rang the doorbell and waited, leaning on one of the giant pillars that stood at each side of the front door.   
  


Summer answered the door herself, wearing casual clothes. Her hair was swept up in a high ponytail and she was wearing less make-up than usual.   
  


"Summer!?" he said, surprised.  
  


For her part, she rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. "Who did you expect? This is my house, you know."  
  


"Uh...No, it's just...I didn't think you'd answer the door, I thought you'd, uh...have, like, a butler or something..." He prattled on, nervously, "anyway, I'm here. Are you going to let me in?"   
  


"If I have to." She stepped aside.   
  


"Oh, how very nice of you." Seth stepped over the threshold and brushed past Summer.   
  


She watched him look around, surveying the curved staircase and giant chandelier that hung in the foyer.  
  


"Wow, this house is nice...and sterile," he said, in his caustic way.  
  


"My step-mom hates dirt."  
  


His eyes widened as he stepped further into the room, obviously noticing the sparsely furnished decorum. It was like one of those expensive stores on Rodeo Drive, even she could admit that.   
  


"And warmth it seems," he said, turning back to look at her. "Are you sure this isn't a museum?"  
  


"It's a little impersonal."  
  


He scoffed. "A little? This place makes a mausoleum look homey."  
  


She should have been offended, any other time she probably would have been, but she agreed. Her stepmother liked things clean and crisp with wealth and luxurious paintings on the walls. Too many things made the place look cluttered and gaudy, her step-mom had often said.   
  


"Don't worry, we're going to my room."   
  


She almost laughed at the expression on his face.   
  


"Uh...your room?"  
  


"Yeah, it's where I keep all my books and stuff. I don't feel like luging them all down, besides it's the most comfortable room in the house."  
  


He nodded with vigour. "I actually don't doubt that."  
  


She took hold of his arm and started up the steps. "Come on, follow me."  
  


"From here to eternity."  
  


"What?"  
  


"Uh...nothing."  
  


"This way." She couldn't help but laugh.  
  


"Right behind you."  
  


She led him into her room and flopped down onto the bed. She watched him watch her. "What?"  
  


"So...this is your room." He took a step closer to the bed and dropped his books at the bottom.   
  


"Yeah, thrilling, isn't it?"   
  


He walked around, looking at her things. Bending down, he picked up a stuffed animal from the floor. "Cute," he mocked and threw it to her.  
  


She sat up and curled her legs. "Are you done snooping yet?"  
  


"Almost," he said. "Hey, pictures!"  
  


She gave him a pointed glare. "Leave those alone."  
  


"I'm not doing any harm. Oh, hey, who's this? That's one foxy lady."  
  


Summer bolted from the bed and swiped the frame from his hands. "That's my mother, you idiot!"  
  


She could feel his eyes on her. When she couldn't stand it anymore she looked up and he was right in front of her, towering over her. "That's right. I should have known that," he said, and there was a strange warmth to his voice. "Well, there's definitely a resemblance. You must get your looks from her. You have the same eyes." He took the frame again, just barely brushing her fingers with his own, and set it back down to its rightful place. "She's living in Paris now, isn't she?  
  


Summer could feel her face flushing. "Yeah. She doesn't make it back home much these days. She's going to Prague next week, at least that's what her postcard said." She started to tell him more and then caught herself. "Anyway, let's get to this studying thing. If we hurry I can still make it to the mall before it closes."  
  


Seth looked down at her with one of those dimpled smiles he did so well. "Sorry sweetheart, but this is going to take much longer than one night."  
  


"What are you talking about? Mrs. Taylor didn't say anything about this becoming a regular thing. I figured a couple of hours to get caught up and I'd be set." She smoothed some deviant stands of hair, that had fallen from her ponytail, away from her face.  
  


"Summer, you're failing four courses and the semester just started."  
  


"What's your point?"  
  


"My point? My point is that I know you're not stupid, so how come you're doing so lousy in almost every class?" Moving his books to the side, Seth sat down ont her bed. From his place they were at almost eye level.   
  


Summer crossed her arms in defence. "How would you know? You don't know anything about me!"  
  


Leaning back, he stretched his hands behind him. "I know so much more than you think." He looked awful smug in Summer's opinion.  
  


She shifted her weight and tilted her chin. "Try me."  
  


"I know that you got straight A's up until your mom left and that your favourite subject was English and that you wanted to be a writer..." he stood then, bending down so their faces were inches apart. "More?"  
  


His breath fanned over her cheeks, it smelled of mint. She could feel the heat between them, something she'd never stopped to notice before, but confronted with his intimidating height and their current closeness, she couldn't ignore it any longer. Those damn dimples were not going to break her. No way. She was immune to a geek like him.  
  


When she didn't answer, he continued, "I know that you used to write poems all the time, but stopped after seventh grade when Jimmy Slater called it dumb. I know that you stopped caring about school when you got into ninth grade because no one else gave a damn and I know you're so much more intelligent than those half-wit-water-polo-playing-Gucci-shopping-social-elitist-snobs or as you call them your 'friends', ever could dream of being. Do you want me to go on or have you heard enough?"  
  


"That's enough," she answered, meekly.  
  


"Well, all right then, let's get to work." He was actually chipper and gave her another one of those feel-good smile, complete with those menacing dimples that were trying to woo her. It wasn't going to work. She was immune to his charms.

_____

Seth hadn't been lying, he really was good at everything...at least academically speaking. Summer had noticed a lot of things in the three hours they'd been studying. One, Seth wasn't like any other boy she'd ever had at her house. And especially not like any of the boys she'd brought to her room. He hadn't tried to paw at her once and was a complete gentleman, almost to a fault. Two, he had really nice eyes with long, black eyelashes that tickled his cheek every time he laughed, which brought her to three, he had a great laugh. And four, those damn dimples were tempting little pockets of cuteness. But she was immune, so it was all good.  
  
  
  


"So good morning in Spanish is: buenos dias. Try that," Seth said, reading from her Spanish text he'd cracked the spine to that very night.   
  


"Benos dis," Summer repeated, her tone flat.  
  


"Maybe with a little enthusiasm? Roll your tongue," he said, demonstrating by flicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth.  
  


Summer quirked a brow. And then she couldn't stop looking at his tongue. Great, just great.  
  


His face tinged a nice shade of pink. "Or...you know, let the consonants flow into the vowels. You know what I mean?"  
  


"I think I got it," she commented, dryly.   
  


Why hadn't he made a move on her? Wasn't he supposed to have some major crush on her?   
  


"Go for it." He smiled.  
  


Damn dimples! They could go to hell.  
  


"Buenos dias. Better?"   
  


"Mucho," he praised. "Okay, so you've got the basic concept. Why don't you try good afternoon? It's on the list." He passed her the text.  
  


Summer took in a slow breath. "Dame un beso."  
  


Seth took the text book back, a smile on his face. His cheeks flamed red. He pointed out the phrase to her, but she wasn't looking at the book, she was looking at him. "No, see, you just said- well, you can read what you said."   
  


Good God, she'd embarrassed him! Could this get any lamer?  
  


Summer looked him straight in the eye. "Give me a kiss."  
  


Seth nodded, unable to meet her eye. "Yeah, oh so you meant that...oh, okay, very good then."  
  


"Yeah, I meant it." She waited for him to look at her, then she said, "Seth, give me a kiss."  
  


His eyes widened. His mouth hung open in shock. She watched him swallow. Hard. "Oh...uh, you _really_ meant it."  
  


"Well?"   
  


He met her eye, then dropped his eyes back to the text. "I think we should just...study." He turned the page. "There are some really good tips on pronunciation here."  
  


Summer couldn't believe her ears. "What!?"  
  


Seth continued as if he hadn't heard her. "We still have an entire chapter to go over and we haven't even started the math."  
  


She'd had enough. "That's it, pick up your books and get out."  
  


Finally, he met her eye. She stood, towering over him, handing him back his notebook and some loose binder paper. "Huh?"  
  


"You heard me, get out." She pointed to the bedroom door for emphasis.  
  


He made no move to stand. "Why?"  
  


Summer untied her hair and ran her fingers through it in frustration. "Because...because I said so."  
  


There was an electric scream and then the lights flickered once before the room fell victim to darkness.  
  


Seth looked around the room, his eyes straining in the dark. "Whoa! What the hell was that?"  
  


"I don't know," Summer answered in a small voice. "This is so not happening." She began to pace. Two steps forward and then two steps back, a small path just in front of her that was not completely dark.  
  


Seth shrugged, though it was hard to make that out in the dark. "Maybe we blew a fuse."  
  


Summer whirled around to face him."Who the hell really cares, Cohen? Doesn't it bother you at all that I just threw myself at you and you flat out rejected me?"  
  


"I didn't reject you." He stood then, dwarfing her.  
  


"Oh no? Then what would you call it?" Even in the supreme blackness he could see the scowl set on her face.  
  


He took a step back, crossed his arms. "Respect."  
  


"Respect? Give me a break."

"Whatever Summer, I'm tired of your games."  
  


"My games?"  
  


"Yeah. I mean...you're hot one minute, cold the next. You ignore me at school, but ask me to kiss you when we're alone. I'm not, like, going to be your secret boyfriend or something. I have some dignity, you know."  
  


"My secret boyfriend? Ew! As if I would want anything to do with you."  
  


"See! This is exactly what I mean."  
  


The silence stretched. Finally, Seth couldn't take it anymore. "Do you know where the fuse box is?"  
  


"I don't know, what do I look like ?"  
  


He gritted his teeth. "You really don't want me to answer that right now."  
  


"Ugh, just be quiet." She knew she was being rude, but he'd bruised her ego, so she was entitled to use some snark in her tone.  
  


"You know what your problem is?" His jaw ticked.  
  


"I can see yours is listening," Summer bit out, sarcastically.  
  


"You're afraid."  
  


"W-what?" she demanded. "No, I'm not!"  
  


"Yes, you are. Look at you, you're totally freaking out."  
  


"I don't like the dark, okay?" she lied.  
  


"This isn't about the dark. I'm talking about this. You and me being close together and I'm not expecting anything from you. That really just messes up your perception of guys, doesn't it?"  
  


She folded her arms and refused to look at him. "I don't know what you're talking about."  
  


"Sure you don't." He looked unconvinced, almost mockingly so.  
  


"You're the one that's supposed to have this major crush on me, let's talk about that." She poked her finger into his chest. He moved back to avoid another gauge and tumbled over his feet onto the bed. Summer came crashing down on top of him when he grabbed her arm to try to steady himself.  
  


Her mahogany hair tickled his nose and her knee hit him in the ribs and then she was still.   
  


Summer straddled him, too startled to move. Seth smirked. "Fine. Let's."  
  


"No," she shot back. She pushed against his chest to get up, causing some incredible friction that she tried to ignore, but he wouldn't let her go. Those strong hands came to her waist and pinned her down.  
  


He sat up a little and looked her in the eye, his hands moving to her back. "No? Uh...okay, are you, like, taking narcotics for that split personality of yours?"   
  


She gave up the fight. "Shut it, Cohen. This isn't the place for you and your roving comedy act."  
  


"I don't get you." He sounded exhausted. He let his head fall back and his hands slipped to his side, freeing her. She didn't move.  
  


"Feeling's mutual," she shot back.  
  


Closing his eyes, he brought his hands under his head and relaxed. "Well, at least I make sense."  
  


"Right. You come over here acting all nice and sweet..." She checked her current position and rethought that statement. Actually, even straddling him was kinda nice. And that sardonic smile wasn't even bothering her as much. No thanks to those damn dimples either. "What kind of plan is brewing in that head of yours?" She found herself touching the side of his head, marvelling at the soft texture of his hair. Funny, she thought it would have been coarse.   
  


"What are you talking about, woman!?" He opened one eye and then the other.   
  


"You must have some ulterior motive for wanting to help me. So why don't you just spit out what is it you want and we'll get it all out in the open."  
  


Taking her by surprise, he reversed their position. Her breath caught in her throat. He was looking at her with such intensity. Those eyelashes were so frigging thick and his eyes were too damn pretty. The dimples had a new partner in crime.  
  


"So that's what this whole thing is about. You thought you'd ask me for a kiss and beat me to the punch, is that it? Newsflash, princess, the only thing Iwant is for you to graduate!" His eyes were tender. It wasn't a line.  
  


"That can't be all you want."  
  


"Why not?" He asked, sampling a piece of her hair between his fingers.   
  


She rolled her eyes. "Because you're a guy!" As if that wasn't obvious.  
  


"Dammit, Summer, not all guys are asshole's!"   
  


Seth hoisted himself up and rolled away. He rested his head in his palm and she mimicked his actions. They stared at each other for a few minutes before he dared to speak.  
  


"You think I came over here as a ploy to sleep with you? Well, I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but I have liked you since the first grade and since then you've been ignoring me. I'm not going to come over here and expect that to change in a few hours." Shaking his head, he let out a derisive laugh and sat up. "Okay, so maybe I wanted to give you a chance to get to know me and maybe I wanted to spend some time with you, but that's as far as my motives went."  
  


"Seth-" She attempted to touch his shoulder, but he stood before she made contact.  
  


"I think you're right though, I should probably go."  
  


"Don't." She stood then, reaching for his hand. He let her take it. She urged him down so he was at her level and ran her fingers over his jaw, let her thumb find the cleft in his chin. Summer leaned in and dropped a soft kiss against Seth's cheek.  
  


"What was that?" he asked, his dimples the size of quarters.  
  


Summer shrugged. "A kiss," she said, shyly. When he looked puzzled, she beat him to the chase. "For being you."  
  


Her squeezed her hand. "Well damn, if that's all it took, I would have been me a long time ago."  
  


Summer laughed. "You're such a spaz, Cohen."  
  


His grin was lopsided, his eyes sparkled against what little light came from outside. "I'll take that as a compliment."  
  


"You really didn't come over here to do anything more than study, did you."  
  


"That's what I've been trying to tell you."  
  


Summer scrunched up her nose. "I don't understand you."  
  


"We've covered this."  
  


She shook her head. "No...I just mean... you're really unique."  
  


Seth slung his arm over her shoulder and gave her a half-hug."Come on, let's go find that fuse box."

_____

It took them eight minutes to find a candle in Summer's messy room and another twenty of careful manoeuvring to make it down the stairs.   
  


The smell of lilac in the air was nice ambiance though.   
  


They were just about to start their search for the elusive fuse box when, like magic, the lights came to life, slowly at first like a yawn and then gradually all the rooms were cast in strong golden light.  
  


"Huh?" Seth mused. "That was odd."  
  


"Yeah."  
  


Seth stretched his arms over his head. "It's pretty late. I should probably-"  
  


"Go."  
  


"What time is your Dad and step-mom getting home?"  
  


She didn't say anything right away and then her eyes lost focus. "They're not. Daddy is on business and my stepmother decided to go away for the week to get a boob job. She's a big fan of surgery vacations to Cuba. Last year she got her nose and lips done and a little liposuction on the side," she said casually. Too casually.  
  


Seth cringed. "Sounds...painful. You wouldn't do that, would you?"  
  


"Beauty fades, Cohen." Her voice was distant, an overpowering sadness seemed to fill her.  
  


"Yeah," he said, lifting her chin so she was forced to look him square in the eye, "but that doesn't matter to me. I mean, yeah you're beautiful, but that's not all you are."  
  


She grinned. "Thanks. That means a lot. As cheesy and cliched as it was."  
  


"You had to ruin that, didn't you?"

  
  
  
  


She laughed. "Of course."

  
  


Are you going to be fine here all alone...in this big empty house? I could...stay."  
  


"I don't think that would be such a good idea."  
  


"Afraid you might get carried away and give into the natural desire that's been building between us all night." He winked at her, the flirt.  
  


"Not quite."  
  


"But I'm not far off am I?" He laughed, wiggling his eyebrows.  
  


She bit her lip, trying not to laugh. "I think I could restrain myself."  
  


"I dunno, I'm pretty tempting in my X-Men boxer shorts."   
  


He flexed which caused her to look down and imagine just how he would look in those underwear. She caught herself and fixed her gaze back on his face. "You make me laugh, Seth. How do you do that?"  
  


"It's a trade secret." Again with the winking.  
  


She arched one perfect eyebrow. "Whatever it is, keep it up."  
  


"See, didn't I tell you that you liked my comedy."  
  


"Yeah, you did." She yawned.  
  


Seth took in a deep breath. "And that's my cue to go."  
  


Summer smoothed her fingers through her now tousled hair. "It's been a long night. I just want to curl up and go to sleep."  
  


"So you can dream of me?" He was too cute, too sweet and in danger of making her change her mind about letting him stay the night. 

"Maybe," she teased, her face burning.  
  


Summer walked Seth to the door. They both became aware of the time as the large grandfather clock chimed, once, at the end of the hall.  
  


He cleared his throat. He must have noticed the red hue to her skin and his own face was starting to colour. Yeah, things would potentially turn serious if she allowed him to stay. "Same time tomorrow?"   
  


"I can't tomorrow." Summer watched his face fall and wanted to do anything to stop it. "Well, how about the day after that?"  
  


"The day after that is Friday," he stated, matter-of-fact.   
  


"And?"  
  


"Don't you want to go out with your friends? I'm sure there's a party somewhere."  
  


"My grades...studying is more important."  
  


Seth's eyebrows knit together in confusion. "I'm sorry who are you and what have you done with that really beautiful girl that lives here?"  
  


"Shut up, Cohen. I'll see you Friday." She didn't even try to hide her excitement.  
  


"You know," he began, a certain, lazy drawl to his voice, "in certain parts of the world getting together on a Friday night might be considered a date."  
  


"You're right, some people would consider it a date," she countered, saucily. "Bye, Seth."

  
  


He leaned over and gave her a quick hug and then walked out the door. "Night, Summer." 

  
  


He turned back halfway to the Range Rover and gave her a very powerful smile. "Sweet dreams."   
  


Those damn dimples stood out in the moonlight like a beacon, mocking her. Maybe she wasn't immune after all.  
  


_____

end.  
  



End file.
